


The Twelve Pubs of Christmas (The Santa Crawl)

by mezziedemo



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Christmas Pub Crawl, I apologise in advance for this nonsense!, M/M, complete fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-24
Updated: 2014-12-24
Packaged: 2018-03-03 06:03:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2840750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mezziedemo/pseuds/mezziedemo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Louis and Niall own a pub and every year they host a pub crawl at Christmas called "The Twelve Pubs of Christmas" (or also known as the Santa Crawl).</p><p>Harry is all alone at Christmas after being dumped by his boyfriend and ends up on the Santa Crawl, finding himself unable to keep away from a certain blue eyed elf.</p><p>This is a short piece of Christmas Fluff purely because it's Christmas Eve! I blame too much eggnog and a little too much wine in that order!!</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Twelve Pubs of Christmas (The Santa Crawl)

**Author's Note:**

> For those not in Australia, the Santa Crawl is real and is a lot of fun! It can get a bit wild, but is always entertaining!!  
> This is just a bit of fluff and fun really - Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas :) xx
> 
> PS - No proofing has been done AT ALL!!!

Zayn and Liam wandered into the Argyle Tavern on a frosty morning in early December to be greeted with a sight that stopped them in their tracks. Zayn came to a complete halt, Liam running into the back of him with an “oomph”. They both raised their eyebrows as they took in an array of Christmas decorations to rival any and all that had gone before.

“What the fuck happened in here?” blurted Zayn. “It looks like a Christmas tree threw up all over the place!”

“I don’t think I’ve seen this much tinsel since…..well, ever” added Liam, eyes wide as saucers.

“What’s wrong with it - don’t you like it?” asked Louis.

“Well, it’s a bit much really, innit?” Zayn replied.

“Zayn!” scolded Niall “I’m so disappointed in you, mate – where’s your Christmas spirit you grinchy prick!”

“He wasn’t being grinchy Niall” Liam argued “everyone loves a bit of Christmas cheer, it’s just that this is, well…….over the top.”

Louis and Niall looked at each other, eyebrows raised, before they turned back to their friends.

“Get out!” Louis pointed at the door as Niall chuckled.

“What?” answered Zayn, looking at him like he was insane.

“You heard me – fuck off and find some Christmas spirit. You can come back when you do and not before!”

“Yeah!” added Niall “you boys know how much Lou and I love Christmas and unlike you lot, we have no family to share it with. This is our home and we are each other’s family. So if we want to wrap this place in fucking tinsel, you will come in here and fucking love it, or get out!”

“Well said Niall” Louis said chirpily, fist bumping Niall before they both turned back to look at Zayn and Liam expectantly.

Zayn chuckled, holding up his hands in surrender. “Alright, alright, but I’m putting it out there that you two get weirdly zealous about Christmas and it’s borderline scary for us normal folk!”

They all chuckled as Niall slipped behind the bar and poured them all a beer.

“When’s the Santa Crawl this year?” asked Liam.

Both Louis and Niall’s eyes lit up and they grinned as they answered “The fifteenth.”

The Santa Crawl was a pub crawl that Louis and Niall had invented four years before. It was originally put on for all the people like them – the people who were alone at Christmas, had no family, or were single and looking to meet other people. Over the years, it had expanded to include anyone and everyone. They devised it after their first Christmas in the pub and it was their favourite tradition.

They had spoken to eleven other pubs in the immediate vicinity and created the “12 Pubs of Christmas Pub Crawl”. It had later been nicknamed “The Santa Crawl” as participants had to dress up in Christmas themed costumes, making it a very visual display as they went from pub to pub.

The walls of the Argyle were littered with photos of the event over the years, and it had become a well-known event in their area, with people coming from all over London to join in. They had even had a couple of marriage proposals come from people who had met on the Santa Crawl, which Niall was extremely proud of.

“You two coming this year?” asked Niall.

“Have we ever missed it?” asked Liam. “I’m offended you still ask to be honest!”

“Well, I thought we needed to check after the display of decidedly non-christmassy behaviour earlier” teased Niall.

Liam and Zayn had met at the first Santa Crawl four years ago and had moved in together three months later. They had also become firm friends with Louis and Niall, the four of them inseparable most of the time.

“We’ll have to dig out the costumes Lou – I think they’re in that storage cupboard out back.”

“I’ll pull them out tomorrow. How about you go as the elf this year and I’ll be Santa?” Louis asked.

Niall laughed. “Lou, with your tiny little body, I can almost put you in my pocket – you could never pull Santa off. You’ll have to be the elf.”

Louis didn’t mention that Niall wasn’t much bigger than he was. He knew he was petite. He also knew his arse looked amazing in those green tights, so he wasn’t too perturbed!

Niall pulled out this year’s promotional flyer to show the boys. It was colourful and cheerful and oozing Christmas spirit.

“I’m hoping for record numbers this year!” he said excitedly.

Louis grinned at him. “I’m just hoping for a few cute new faces!”

“Ah Louis, you hopeless romantic!” teased Zayn. “Ever hopeful of finding your Prince Charming!”

“Ever hopeful of getting a good shag more like, am I right?” Niall cackled.

“Niall! How very dare you? I’m most certainly looking for my Prince Charming! If, however, I have to kiss a few hot looking frogs along the way, well it’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make!”

Zayn and Liam shook their heads, chuckling at him as he and Niall fist bumped again and proceeded to reminisce about the guy Louis took home from the Santa Crawl last year.

“Ah Rodney! The closeted fireman with the abs of steel. Too bad he was sexually confused, he could’ve been the one. Not that he was too confused when he had me bouncing on his….”

“Louis!” shouted Liam “too much information!”

Louis giggled as he got the reaction he was after. Nothing pleased him more than making Liam blush.

“We’ll need to start handing out these flyers on Friday Louis” said Niall.

“Right!” Louis replied. “I’m all over it mate – never fear!”

 

XXXX

 

He loved Christmas.

Well, he used to love Christmas. Up till now, it had been his favourite time of year.

Getting dumped two weeks before Christmas, however, in a city where he knew nobody that _wasn’t_ part of Scott’s crowd, tended to shit all over his Christmas spirit and Harry was feeling low. He knows deep down that things with Scott weren’t going well and he wasn’t completely happy, but it still hurt to be shafted just before Christmas.

His parents and sister were in the US this year and he hadn’t kept in touch with his friends from Holmes Chapel since he moved to London a year ago with Scott. He’d made Scott’s friends his friends, and Scott’s life his life – not particularly helpful when Scott made a new start with a Spanish barista from their local café.

He could always go back to his family home and have Christmas there on his own. It was better than his crappy studio here in London – he’d be alone either way, but better to be alone somewhere you were comfortable and happy, right?

He was wandering along the sidewalk, pondering this decision, when he bumped smack into someone at full pace, sending both the person and their pamphlets flying. Harry leaned down to help the poor guy up, apologising.

“Oops!” said Harry, smiling “sorry about that!” He focused on the guy’s face, finding himself looking into the bluest eyes he’d ever seen, sparkling with mirth and crinkling at the corners. His breath hitched and he stared open mouthed for a moment as the boy stared back at him, time suspended as he catalogued the stunning features in front of him.

The boy then seemed to shake himself and asked with a grin “you gonna help me up any time soon Curly?”

Harry sprang into action, reaching down and pulling the cute boy up by the hand. When he was upright, Harry couldn’t drag his eyes away from the boy, simply staring at him. He was rugged up in a coat and scarf and had a grey beanie on his head. His light brown hair was sticking out of the beanie in a messy flick and his cheeks were rosy. He suddenly grinned at Harry and it was magnificent. Harry couldn’t help but grin back at him.

“See something you like there Curly?” he asked with a wink, his eyes twinkling.

Harry giggled, dimples showing. “Maybe” he answered back, matching the boy’s flirty tone.

“Well, I think since you knocked me over in the street, and then ogled me brazenly, you should at least help me pick up these flyers.”

Harry snapped out of his daze then, immediately launching into a long string of apologies and bending down to help pick up the flyers.

The boy seemed even more amused at his profuse apologies, smiling at him and saying “calm your farm - no harm done there curly! Hi – I’m Louis, by the way!” he held out his hand for Harry to shake.

Harry stopped babbling and looked down at his hand and then back up, taking it with a smile. “Harry” he replied “and I’m usually more graceful than that.”

Louis laughed and it trickled across Harry’s nerve endings, leaving little sparks as it went. His laugh was contagious and Harry found himself laughing too, for the first time in a while.

“Well, Harry, since you’re here, take a flyer.” Louis handed him a flyer.

“What’s it for?” asked Harry, eyes scanning the paper in his hand.

“It’s a Christmas pub crawl” answered Louis “but not just any – the best in the city! It’s especially for the lonely, single and anyone wanting a good time really. My mate and I own this pub here” he said, pointing to the Argyle “and we both have no family in London. When we realised there were lots of people alone at Christmas, we decided to have a night out for people to get together and meet other people. It’s become a bit of a tradition and people come from all around to join us. What do you say, interested Curly?” Louis raised his eyebrows and Harry was sure he wasn’t just talking about the pub crawl.

“I might be interested, yeah” he replied with a grin, _knowing_ that he wasn’t just talking about the pub crawl.

Louis chuckled and said “well, I for one would love to see some new faces there and you’ve quite a face curly.” He winked at Harry, his eyes crinkling in the corners and once again Harry’s breath hitched at how gorgeous he was.

They stood smiling at each other stupidly for a moment, before a large burly fellow stalked up and pointed at the flyer rudely. “What’s this then?” he barked out.

Louis turned and let his annoyance show, but explained what it was for.

“That sounds shit!” the guy replied “you won’t see me at something like that!”

“Well imagine, if you can, the immensity of the fuck I _don’t_ give about that” Louis retorted dryly, causing Harry to snort, trying to hide his grin.

Louis was ridiculously pleased with himself for being the reason for that grin.

The guy stormed off in a huff, flipping them his middle finger as he went.

Harry and Louis looked at each other, dissolving into giggles.

“As you can see, it’s not for everyone” laughed Louis “but if you’re open to meeting new people, then you should definitely come along. Besides, who could pass up the opportunity to see me dressed in my elf costume eh?”

“I definitely wouldn’t want to miss that” Harry chuckled.

“Great!” Louis replied, smiling “so we’ll see you next Friday night then?”

“How could I refuse an offer like that?” Harry answered, smiling back at him, dimples showing once again. “See you next Friday Louis – looking forward to seeing you in that elf costume, don’t disappoint me now!”

He strolled off leaving Louis watching him walk away, and no, he wasn’t checking out Harry’s arse thank you very much!

“Oh yeah – I’ll definitely see you Friday” he murmured at Harry’s retreating back. _What the hell was that?_ he thought. He thought that Harry may just have been the single most breathtaking human being he’d ever seen. Those green eyes had been intoxicating and the dimples – holy shit!

When he went back into the pub and sat down at the bar, Niall bought him over a beer.

“Was it cold out there Lou?” asked Niall as he passed over his beer.

Louis looked up from where he’d been off in his own little world. “Hmm?”

“Earth to Louis!” Niall teased. “What’s got you all spaced out?”

Louis grinned at him. “Niall, I just met the cutest boy. Fuck he was gorgeous – you should’ve seen him! He was stunning!”

“Well that sounds promising! Frog or Prince, do you think?” asked Niall.

“Prince” Louis answered, smiling. “Definitely Prince.”

 

XXXX

 

Niall let out a wolf whistle as Louis entered the pub in his green tights, worn over tiny red shorts that snuggly hugged his bum and a green and white striped top under a red vest with a red bow tie. His green hat had little flashing lights on it.

“Lou, may I tell you how divine your arse looks in those tights man?” he called out as Zayn and Liam turned to check out his outfit. “If I was gay, I’d totally do you tonight.”

“Thank you Niall” Louis grinned. “That was both lovely and thoroughly disturbing at the same time.”

“Just putting it out there mate” replied Niall with a shrug. “You’re definitely bringing sexy back tonight!”

Louis laughed loudly. “Thanks buddy, although I think it’s definitely a bit more snug around the arse than it was last year!” He ran his hands self-consciously over his bum.

“A bit?” Zayn raised his eyebrows. “It looks like it was painted on – doesn’t leave much to the imagination!”

“Thank you for your observation, Zayn. However, your opinion is not required, so kindly fuck off!” Louis replied, smiling a shit eating grin at Zayn, who smirked back at him.

“I think it looks great Lou” said Cara, one of the bar staff working tonight.

“Thanks love” he winked at her.

“Yeah, don’t worry, Prince Charming will love it!” teased Niall.

“Prince Charming?” Liam asked.

“Yeah, Louis met someone while he was handing out flyers, and he’s apparently _not_ a frog.” explained Niall.

“Really?” Liam grinned gleefully.

“Tell us more Leeewis!” added Zayn, rubbing his hands together and chuckling.

Louis turned on his heel and left the room, muttering under his breath about needing better friends.

 

XXXX

 

Louis was at the door, greeting the guests and slapping stick on labels onto each participant as they entered, with their name clearly marked. He was just finishing with someone when he noticed Harry enter the door. His jaw dropped as he took in what Harry was wearing. His body was covered head to toe in a flesh coloured mesh, making him look naked. Over his mid chest and down to his mid thighs, was a the outline of a square in bright green, with a big gold and red striped silk ribbon, tied in a bow over his chest stomach and groin area. He was obviously a present. Louis stared, gaping at him and feeling his body respond to the sight of Harry looking practically naked. He looked his fill while Harry was busy looking around the room. As he turned, eyes meeting Louis’, he grinned and Louis felt it hit him with the force of a blow. His heart rate shot up and he had to remind himself to breathe. Harry waved a ridiculous little wave and Louis couldn’t have been more endeared. He shook himself and greeted Harry with an answering wave.

“Harry! You made it!” He winked as he added “and looking like the kind of present I wouldn’t mind unwrapping on Christmas Day!” When Harry grinned, blushing, he continued. “Welcome to the Santa Crawl – come on over here and we’ll get your name tag on so you can mingle.”

Harry trotted over to Louis. “Hey Louis!” He took a moment to look Louis up and down slowly, nodding and grinning before he added “nice elf costume – you were right when you said it wouldn’t disappoint, it clings in all the right places.”

Louis blushed - and really, what? Since when did he blush? This boy affected him like nobody else had ever done. His heart was beating erratically and he couldn’t wipe the stupid grin off his face.

 _Pull yourself together man!_ he thought. He bit back his grin and replied “Well I do have an ass that was made for tights!”

Harry let out a loud bark of laughter, slapping a hand over his mouth and Louis giggled back at him, eyes crinkling up.

They were interrupted by Niall, who called out to Louis that it was almost time to get started. Louis nodded and handed Harry his clipboard with blank name tags.

“Listen Curly, do me a favour and organise a name tag for anyone that comes in while I give Niall a hand getting set up over there, will you?”

“Sure” Harry replied with a smile and really – were those dimples even real?

 

XXXX

 

As Louis and Niall got everything they’d need together for the night ahead and started preparing trays of shots to hand out to kick the night off, Niall nudged his shoulder.

“So, was that your Prince Charming all wrapped up with a bow over there?”

“Yep!” Louis giggled. “Isn’t he adorable?”

“He is – and I have the feeling you’re not the only one who thinks so. There’s about three guys in here eyeing him off already.”

“What?” replied Louis, trying to quell the immediate rush of possessiveness that washed over him.

“Make that four – Grimshaw just arrived.”

Louis’ head whipped around so fast that he almost gave himself whiplash. Sure enough, there was Nick Grimshaw, getting his name tag from Harry and practically salivating all over him. He was flirting up a storm, making Harry laugh, and just, no. No, no,no,no,no. And no. And hell the fuck no.

Louis was walking toward them before he knew what he was doing. As he approached, Nick looked over Harry’s shoulder and scowled as he saw him. Louis walked straight up behind Harry, sliding an arm around him in a ridiculously territorial move considering they just met. He wouldn’t have been surprised if Harry had been shocked and put off, but Harry simply turned and gave him a lop-sided smile, leaning into Louis’ side.

“Hey Louis” he said happily.

“Hello love” said Louis in a soft voice, before turning to Nick and biting out a stiff greeting.

“Grimshaw.”

“Tomlinson” Nick replied, equally frosty. “I see you’ve dug out last year’s costume, only I’m sure it wasn’t that tight last year.”

Harry frowned at Nick’s rude greeting, leaning further into Louis’ side and replying defensively “Well, when you’ve got it, you should flaunt it – and his arse really is made for tights.”

Louis bit his cheek to hide his grin at hearing Harry repeat his earlier words. He was beyond chuffed at Harry defending him.

Nick looked from one to the other, his lips in a tight smile. “Excuse me, will you?” He looked pointedly at Louis as he added “I happen to know when I’m not wanted.”

“Then why do you insist on coming back every year?” replied Louis at his bitchy best.

Nick ignored him and turned to Harry. “Just so we’re clear, I’m not normally so rude, but Louis here has said some pretty horrible things to me over the past few years, so he tends to bring out the worst in me.”

“To be fair” Louis drawled “you deserved each and every one of the things I’ve said to you – and for the record, you also deserved the horrible things I’ve said behind your back too.”

“You’re such a fucking arsehole Louis!” Nick spat out.

“I’m getting the feeling you don’t like me Grimshaw. Why don’t you go sit over there in the corner with the other people waiting for me to give a shit about that and enjoy your night, won’t you?”

Nick stormed off and Louis grimaced at Harry. “Sorry you had to see that Hazza, but that guy just rubs me the wrong way! I get so snarky around him, I just can’t help it!”

Harry chuckled. “It’s fine Lou, but I hate the thought of him ruining your night.” He leaned close to Louis’ ear as he whispered “maybe you should find someone to rub you the _right_ way, just to balance things out.” He grinned as he pulled back and excused himself, sauntering off toward the bar to mingle, leaving Louis standing there with his mouth open - watching him go and growing hard in a costume that left him with nowhere to hide.

 

XXXX

 

Niall stood on the bar, tapping a spoon on a glass to get the attention of the party-goers, who were already in good spirits.

“Listen up people!” he shouted. “The staff are currently handing out Christmas Shots, please take one and when everybody has a drink, we’ll toast to our night together. While the drinks are being handed out, I’ll explain how tonight will go for all the newbies! Firstly, we will be at each pub for approximately thirty minutes. When it’s time to leave, I will ring this bell” he shook a large bell and it echoed through the bar, before he continued.

“This is not the fucking marines – if you fall behind, you stay behind. There’ll be no team sent in on a rescue mission. You need to keep up or go home like the pussy you are!” There were a few cheers from the crowd.

“Now Louis and myself – where are you Louis, raise your hand? Yes, there he is folks, for those that don’t know him! Lou and I own this pub and we are your hosts for this evening – any problems, see either one of us and we’ll do our best to sort you out. Please bear in mind that we can fix a lot of things, but we can’t fix stupid – so drink responsibly!” He paused before adding “ahh fuck it – you’re all gonna be shitfaced before this is over, who are we kidding right?” Louis shook his head, chuckling at Niall as everyone cheered.

“Lastly” Niall shouted “there are two rules. The first is that if you find yourself under mistletoe – and there has been strategically placed mistletoe hung throughout all twelve pubs – then you MUST kiss the person nearest you, no matter who it is. If you fail to do this and we catch you, you will be made to skull a beer or be punished in a manner of our choosing!” There was more laughter from the crowd.

“The second is that all names will be put into the hat and at random parts of the night, we will draw out names. If your name is pulled out, you MUST use this Karaoke unit” he waved his hands, indicating a Karaoke machine on the bar “to sing a Christmas song of your choice. Failure to do this will ensure you are thrown off the crawl!”

When everybody had a red or green shot glass in hand, Niall raised his glass and said “Merry Christmas Motherfuckers! Here’s cheers to a great night!”

There was a resounding cheer as everyone threw back their shots and Niall declared the Santa Crawl officially underway.

 

XXXX

 

Louis was doing the rounds, welcoming people and catching up with those he knew from previous years and he lost sight of Harry as he drifted into the crowd, already surrounded by girls and guys, vying for his attention. Harry seemed to effortlessly draw people to him like moths to a flame and Louis battled with an irrational need to chase them all away, greedily hording all of Harry’s attention for himself. He was utterly enchanted by this boy in the ridiculous costume, with chocolate curls and green eyes and dimpled smile. It had been forever since someone had captured his focus the way Harry had. He felt a rush of excitement and anticipation flow through him as he thought about the way Harry had looked at him and flirted with him. He had always enjoyed the chase – and Harry took it to a whole new level of fun.

It was when he had finally made his way through the whole room and was standing off to the side, eyes scanning the crowd for the head of brown curls, that a voice right behind him said “looking for someone?”

He spun around, caught off guard, to find Harry grinning at him. The look on his face told Louis he knew who he had been looking for and Louis tried to play it cool.

“Nope, just checking out this year’s talent” he answered casually.

Harry chuckled, not fooled at all. “Anyone catch your fancy?”

Louis turned and his eyes locked on Harry’s, heavy with desire as he murmured “well, there is this one bloke. Face of an angel but a mouth just _made_ for sinning” his eyes dropped to Harry’s mouth.

Harry licked his lips and looked up, smiling. “Oh look – mistletoe!”  He took a step closer as he murmured “care to see what I can do with that mouth?”

Louis had just enough time to whisper “yes please” before Harry’s arms slid around his waist and his mouth was on Louis’. His lips were every bit as incredible as Louis had imagined they would be. It was a slow, hot kiss and he thought his knees may just give way as his limbs all turned to jelly. It was a fairly tame kiss, but it caused a shudder of reaction down Louis’ spine. Harry pulled back and smiled at him, all dimples and sparkling green eyes and Louis panted out “Oh my, I bet you’re definitely on the naughty list with a mouth like that.”

Harry laughed out loud and looked down at the beautiful boy in his arms, completely and utterly mesmerised by him. He’d been unable to think of much else since he’d literally dropped into Harry’s life the week before. Everything about Louis called to him and he was pulling out all the stops to seduce him tonight. Louis’ face when he’d arrived had been worth every penny of the money he’d spent on his costume - and Louis’ gorgeous body squeezed into his tights was definitely something Harry would never forget. His mouth had gone dry when he’d first laid eyes on him. He was almost too good to be true.

Louis dragged him over to a table in the corner, where Niall and two other guys sat chatting. He introduced the three boys to Harry and they got chatting. The other two boys were Liam and Zayn and Harry immediately liked them, chatting away happily. The entire time, every cell in his body was vibrating with awareness of the boy sitting next to him, chatting with Niall. Every now and again, Louis’ arm or leg would brush against his and he’d get a spark of sensation running up his body. When he caught Louis’ eye every now and again, he was pretty sure he could see his own fond expression mirrored on Louis’ face as he returned Harry’s smile. He knew the way he was feeling must be plastered all over his face, but he could barely care. He was enjoying himself for the first time in a long time.

For the first time in a long time, he was spending time with people he genuinely liked, rather than people Scott picked. It felt good.

When the first name pulled out of the hat for Christmas Karaoke was Louis’, he accused Niall of rigging the selection, but good-naturedly belted out “All I want for Christmas is You” while barely breaking eye contact with Harry and making himself the subject of much ridicule from Zayn, Liam and Niall as he re-joined the group. The look of pure joy on Harry’s face, though, was enough to ensure that he cared nothing for the mockery – only that he was the reason for Harry’s dimples being on display.

The bell was then rung and they all filed out of the pub, headed for pub number two. Louis and Harry walked together, chatting about anything and everything and getting to know each other.

By pub number three, they were tipsy and their flirting had turned up a notch. Much to the amusement of Niall, Zayn and Liam, they were failing to recognise the meaning of personal space and their innuendo had reached fever pitch.

“They should just hit the toilets and blow each other already” chuckled Zayn.

Liam giggled. “Yeah, I’m actually surprised Louis hasn’t climbed in his lap yet. The sexual tension in here is pretty thick.”

Niall looked at them both archly. “Might I remind you of this night four years ago? If I remember correctly, you were threatened by the owner of the Fox and Hound after you didn’t even make it to the bathroom stall and Zayn just blew you in the middle of the men’s room.”

Both boys had the decency to look ashamed at that reminder and Zayn mumbled something about them being blind drunk and out of control.

“To be fair” added Liam “we actually thought we were in the stall – we were just too drunk to realise we weren’t.”

Niall cackled at that. “Oh you two were wasted good and proper!” He smiled fondly “good times. Anyway, go easy on them – I think Louis really likes this one.”

XXXX

 

By pub seven, Louis was basically dragging Harry around seeking out the mistletoe so he had an excuse to snog him – not that he needed one. Harry happily trailed after him, not caring if there was mistletoe or not, just happy to be snogged by Louis as much as possible. They were both drunk now and grinning ridiculously at each other as they ignored all other people. They talked nonsense and invaded each other’s space, touching constantly and practically sitting in each other’s lap.

“Lou” grinned Harry, all glassy eyed after too much vodka. He leaned close to Louis and said softly “you look so hot in that elf costume. I nearly popped a blood vessel when I laid eyes on you. Fuck you look good!”

Louis giggled, covering his mouth with his hand, before responding quietly with “well, when I saw you, my first thought was “I’d like to unwrap that present” and I was picturing what it’d be like to untie that bow and see what was underneath.”

Harry stared at him for a moment, eyes drooping heavily and mouth open as his mind conjured up the image Louis had just described. Then his eyes dropped to Louis’ mouth and he grabbed his elf vest and pulled him in for a kiss. The kiss turned heated until they were pelted with ice cubes by Zayn, Liam and Niall.

“Oi, keep it PG please – we’re sitting right here!” warned Niall.

Harry and Louis just looked at each other laughing hysterically.

 

XXXX

 

By pub number ten, Harry and Louis were wasted, but to be fair, so were all the crawlers. That was when Harry’s name was drawn out of the hat and he had to sing a Christmas karaoke song.

He chose his song just for Louis and in his sexiest voice, sauntered up to Louis, sitting in his lap with a smirk and started singing Santa Baby. He received lots of catcalls and whistles as he sang to Louis in a husky, breathy voice and Louis couldn’t stop grinning. When it was over, he pulled Harry in for a kiss, much to the crowd’s delight.

When Harry tried to straddle Louis on the tiny chair, it tipped backward and they both end up sprawled on the ground. They lay there laughing as everyone cheered and Zayn and Liam came over and helped them up, marching them over to the bar for another round.

 

XXXX

 

By pub twelve it was all they could do to keep their hands off each other and when Niall called an official close to the Santa Crawl 2014, they headed straight back to The Argyle and upstairs to Louis’ room.

Louis went to the bathroom to brush his teeth and when he returned to the bedroom, Harry was standing next to the bed, pointing to where he’d tied a piece of mistletoe he’d obviously swiped from the bar.

“Oh Look!” he said quietly “Mistletoe!”

Louis laughed and launched himself at Harry, finally unwrapping him and thinking that this was the best Christmas present he could ever remember getting.

 

When, ten days later, there were three people for Christmas lunch at the tavern, instead of the usual two, Harry thought that maybe this was the best Christmas he’d ever had and the start of a whole new set of traditions. Louis’s smile told him he was feeling the same way.


End file.
